Verizon this week revealed that it has at least 36 entities interested in purchasing the spectrum it owns in the 700-MHz band.

That sale, however, is contingent upon whether regulators approve Verizon's purchase of $3.6 billion worth of spectrum from a coalition of cable firms. The chairman of the Senate's antitrust subcommittee yesterday penned a letter to federal officials expressing concern with that deal.

"In brief, without reaching any final judgment as to the legality of these transactions under the antitrust laws or Communications Act, I believe these transactions present serious competition concerns which should be examined closely by your agencies for the reasons set forth below," Sen. Herb Kohl wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder.

As part of the spectrum deal, Verizon Wireless is teaming up with its cable partners to offer special triple- and quadruple-play packages. Consumers could call up Comcast, for example, and sign up for Comcast Internet, digital phone, cable, and Verizon Wireless mobile service in one shot.

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are also part of the cable coalition, dubbed SpectrumCo, LLC.

Verizon rivals like T-Mobile and Sprint, as well as consumer groups, have argued that the cable spectrum purchase is "a clear threat to competition," and Verizon recently appeared on Capitol Hill to defend the deal.

Back in 2008, Verizon spent $9.4 billion on 109 licenses in the 700-MHz band during an auction run by the FCC, ending up with spectrum in the A, B, and C blocks. Verizon said that it has used spectrum in the upper C block to deploy its 4G LTE network, and plans to use the cable-owned spectrum to continue that rollout.

As a result, it doesn't need the 700-MHz spectrum in the A and B blocks, but Verizon said it can't sell it off unless it knows the cable spectrum purchase is a done deal.

In a Tuesday filing with the FCC, Kathleen Grillo, Verizon's senior vice president of federal regulatory affairs, said that 36 entities have signed non-disclosure agreements in order to receive more information about purchasing Verizon's 700-MHz spectrum. The names of those entities, however, were redacted.

In that filing, Verizon said that "the Lower 700 MHz A and B bands are not as good a complement to our existing spectrum holdings as is the AWS spectrum" from the cable companies.

Sen. Kohl, however, argued that "in deciding whether to approve the spectrum sale, the FCC should be guided by the principle that wireless spectrum is not simply a privately held commercial asset, but consists of the public airwaves to be deployed in the public interest."

About the Author

Before joining PCMag.com, Chloe covered financial IT for Incisive Media in NYC and technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's deg... See Full Bio

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